Lockheed's Constellation programme was a great success both for civilian and military marks but coming towards the end of the 1950s the age of the piston liner was swiftly drawing to a close. Lockheed understood this but the airlines, locked in a battle for transatlantic supremacy, were keen to keep their foot full on the throttle and wanted bridging equipment. Both Lockheed and Douglas were in a position to provide it.

The Douglas DC-4 originated from the unrelated first DC-4 (which was renamed the DC-4E) that had proved too complicated and lacking in performance prior to World War Two. The advent of the war interrupted the new DC-4s use as a commercial airliner and after the first prototype was constructed nearly 1,170 came off the production lines for the military in a large number of variants. The basic types were named the C-54 Skymaster (for the USAAF) and the R5D (for the US Navy).

Author

I'm Richard Stretton: a fan of classic airliners and airlines who enjoys exploring their history through my collection of die-cast airliners. If you enjoy the site please donate whatever you can to help keep it running: